Do you think its a missed oppurtunity for a more Badass introduction to these Hardened warriors who do not fatigue through rain,sleet or snow,? Or do you think it necessary>?We are more connected than ever before, more able to spread our ideas and beliefs, our anger and fears. As we exercise the right to advocate our views, and as we animate our supporters, we must all assume responsibility for our words and actions before they enter a vast echo chamber and reach those both serious and delirious, connected and unhinged.

not all of the dwarves are mounted; the dwarves may have an army of footsoldiers as well as a cavalry division. After all, we're pretty sure to have both footsoldier orcs and warg-riders. Why not have the equivalent on the dwarven side as well?

...Unless they're planning to have Dain's army function as the dwarven equivalent of Rohan during the battle, and have the cavalry charge in to save the day. I don't think anyone considered the Charge of the Light Brigade Rohirrim as being somehow less "badass" than the footsoldiers of Gondor because they rode to get there, do you? And we will have the armies of Men and Elves (unless they all arrive on giant elk) fighting on foot already. Silverlode

Honestly I think it is realistic to expect them to take horses After all I never thought them walking the whole time in the book made sense.

Well, the Dwarves are supposed to be exceptionally durable. Ponies are more suited to pulling mining carts than for battle-mounts. The combination of rams and boars isn't too bad an idea, except that Dwarves are supposed to be more used to fighting underground than in an open battlefield. 'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring

It probably wouldn't be all that easy to: A Have the dwarves arrive with any surprise and also show that they had walked a long way Or B To show them walking a long way in a visually dramatic way whilst also showing they weren't tired

I like the fact that they arrive in force with cavalry. ...
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Makes for a great clash of forces, plus once the sides collide, many will be "de-ramed" or whatever, and we will see our fill of dwarven infantry slaughtering orcs and wargs. I like to think we are fortunate to get the best of both mounted and dismounted dwarven ops. The path of the Warrior is paved in blood, sweat, tears and ultimately death. He weeps for the fallen, bleeds for the cause, and sweats till he dies. In memory of operation FALLEN ANGEL and the mighty Heroes of SEAL team 6, the PJ's, SOCOM aviation, and all those who fell in the Tangi Valley. - Task force Warrior will not forget you

would the company have been mounted on ponies throughout the beginning of the book? If they were foot hardy and so determined to be so, then why not just take one pony with a pack (or maybe two- we know how much they love to eat lol ) and lead them on halters?

Tolkien specifically mentioned them traveling across most of Middle-earth with ponies- even though they weren't pursued by foul creatures until after they got captured in Goblin Town (unless you count the trolls, but that wasn't really pursuit just an unfortunate and rather embarrassing run-in). So the goblins ate the first round of ponies, the second were Beorn's and were returned prior to Mirkwood, and the third set were from Laketown, and were eaten by Smaug.

So unless there are ONLY 42 ponies in all of Middle-earth at the time, it makes sense to me to not have every single dwarf in Dain's army on foot. Especially if they had to make speed after learning their cousin was in a siege situation. But I can see what others have mentioned above, and I agree- perhaps there was a majority of foot soldiers, but there's also the possibility that some were mounted as well- a good army relies on more than just infantry to win a battle. You need archers for long distance, you need strong spearmen against mounted foes, strong swordsmen/axemen to take care of infantry work, and yes some mounts, while not 100% necessary, can improve odds in your favor, especially if your opponent is mounted as well (infantry against mounts=mounts will win every time even if losses are sustained in the process).

Or perhaps maybe all the ponies went on strike after hearing the news about their ill-fated cousins, because it certainly seems that being a dwarf pony in the Hobbit is the equivalent of being a red shirt in Star Trek

I think it doesn't get much more badass than armoured Dwarves roaring in on armoured rams.
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Itís a great visual image, IMO, and Iíll see how it works in the story before I decide if I like it.

With Azog, Bolg and their guys sometimes mounted on wargs, it makes sense for at least some of the Dwarves to be mounted as well, on something that looks like it possibly has a chance of surviving the encounter. We already saw how Thorin did against Azog and his warg in AUJ.

The charge of the Rohirrim on the fields of the Pelennor is one of my favorite moments of the RotK movie. I donít expect Dainís charge (if thatís what it is) to be as great but it looks good to me.

would the company have been mounted on ponies throughout the beginning of the book? If they were foot hardy and so determined to be so, then why not just take one pony with a pack (or maybe two- we know how much they love to eat lol ) and lead them on halters?

Using ponies for pack animals and travel-mounts is one thing. Using them as war-mounts is completely different. Personally, I don't think that the Dwarves should be using cavalry at all, in the sense of fighting while mounted. The purpose of the rams should be to get them to the Mountain on time; the Dwarves ought to be fighting on foot. That is what we saw at Azanulbizar and those are the tactics we are told of in the book. However, that now seems to be out of the window.

I would make sense to have ponies, rams or other beasts pulling wagons in a supply train. 'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring

Yeah- a dwarf riding valiantly into battle on his trusty steed- the finest war ponies ever to be seen.....NOPE lol

I was thinking more of the ponies as being a quick mode of transportation from the Iron Hills to Erebor, in accordance with the dwarves utilizing them as travel beasts of burden everywhere else in the story, not them being used in the actual battle itself

It might be a local tradition of the Iron Hills Dwarves to use rams as mounts and beasts of burden, although it is the boar that is associated with Dain's folk on the Lake-town tapestry. 'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring

Part and parcel of Dain's timely arrival is that he needs to make haste to get to the Lonely Mountain. It makes sense that they'd take as much cavalry as they can - though Dwarf riders aren't quite the same thing as the kind of cavalry Rohan provides later.

Ponies could easily be available and utilized by those living in Ered Luin because of their proximity to the Shire, which was very feasible for ponies. The rams may well be more viable in the Iron Hills than ponies (or perhaps they handle the winter terrain a bit better due to the design of their hooves).

There were also rams on the tapestry as well- I believe someone mentioned that they were located near Oin/Gloin/Balin/Dwalin side of the tree, but I don't remember exactly for sure. You can probably look up a screen shot or book picture copy of the tapestry online though

Nope. That's just the way my mind works. I've been a science-fiction reader since I was a nipper; growing up in the '60s also made me a Star Trek fan. Add to that being an admirer of Arthur Conan Doyle's Great Detective and there you are.

Live long and prosper, Watson! 'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring

And you remember right; it is on the right side, associated with the Line of Borin (which includes Balin, Dwalin, Oin and Gloin). The runes under the boar say "Iron Hills". Those accompanying the ram translate to "Ered Mithrin," connecting Borin's Folk with the Grey Mountains. 'There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.' - Gandalf the Grey, The Fellowship of the Ring